Breathtaking, searing, and brilliant, this book invited white Americans to examine how Black culture and labor shaped the United States and how race relationsâas well as the consequences of segregation and disenfranchisementâwould be the defining problem of the 20th century. Du Bois's prophetic remarks and critical insights have been cited as the intellectual framework for the Civil Rights movement, and they continue to inspire contemporary writers: Ta-Nehisi Coatesâs Between the World and Me takes its title from the first line of this book. Â